Cite as: 526 U. S. 541 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
Outright admissions of impermissible racial motivation are infrequent and plaintiffs often must rely upon other evidence. Summary judgment in favor of the party with the burden of persuasion, however, is inappropriate when the evidence is susceptible of different interpretations or inferences by the trier of fact.9 That is not to say that summary judgment in a plaintiff's favor will never be appropriate in a racial gerrymandering case sought to be proved exclusively by circumstantial evidence. We can imagine an instance where the uncontroverted evidence and the reasonable inferences to be drawn in the nonmoving party's favor would not be "significantly probative" so as to create a genuine issue of fact for trial. Id., at 249-250. But this is not that case. And even if the question whether appellants had created a material dispute of fact were a close one, we think that "the sensitive nature of redistricting and the presumption of good faith that must be accorded legislative enactments," Miller, 515 U. S., at 916, would tip the balance in favor of the District Court making findings of fact. See also id., at 916-917 ("[C]ourts must also recognize . . . the intrusive potential of judicial intervention into the legislative realm, when assessing . . . the adequacy of a plaintiff's showing at the various stages of litigation and determining whether to permit discovery or trial to proceed").
In reaching our decision, we are fully aware that the District Court is more familiar with the evidence than this Court, and is likewise better suited to assess the Gen-Richards, 861 F. Supp. 1304, 1311-1331, 1336-1344 (SD Tex. 1994); Shaw II, supra, at 903; Shaw v. Hunt, 861 F. Supp. 408, 456-473 (EDNC 1994); Miller v. Johnson, supra, at 910; Johnson v. Miller, 864 F. Supp. 1354, 1360-1369 (SD Ga. 1994).
9 Just as summary judgment is rarely granted in a plaintiff's favor in cases where the issue is a defendant's racial motivation, such as disparate treatment suits under Title VII or racial discrimination claims under 42 U. S. C. § 1981, the same holds true for racial gerrymandering claims of the sort brought here. See generally 10B C. Wright, A. Miller, & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure §§ 2730, 2732.2 (1998).
553
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